Hungry for Tun History? Join The Tun Lunch and Learn, Legacy Tour and More

Visitors from 44 states and Washington. D.C. have already signed up to attend the U.S. Marine Corps 250^th birthday events planned in Philadelphia from Friday, November 7 through Veterans Day on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Many are taking advantage of tours – and a lunch and learn – that will provide a history class on the historic Tun, the founding or first meeting place of six organizations still in existence today, including the Marine Corps. Historians, guides, curators, reenactors, organization leaders and business owners will all join in telling the story of The Tun.

“When you come to Philadelphia, you’re going to get some history,” said Ken Hopper, a Marine and board member of The Tun Legacy Foundation who is leading the Foundation’s Nov. 7-11 activities. “We are getting a large response for the tour offerings. People want to know more about the history of the historic Tun, which stood in Philadelphia for nearly a century, from 1686 until 1781, and the organizations with history there, including the Marines, Navy, Pennsylvania Freemasons, Society of St. George, St. Andrew’s Society, and The Friendly Sons & Daughters of St. Patrick.”

Featured tours include:

Friday, Nov. 7

The Masonic Temple Library & Museum and Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Tour (5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.; $10. The 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. tours are sold out.)

Saturday, Nov. 8

The Tun Lunch and Learn (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.; $35)

The Tun Legacy Tour: Secrets of The Tun (1:30 – 3:30 p.m.; $50)

Masonic Temple Library & Museum and Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Tour (45-minute tours offered at 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., Fri., Nov. 7, One North Broad St., $10)

The historic Tun is considered the Birthplace of Pennsylvania Freemasonry, where the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was formed in 1731. A look inside the 150-year-old Masonic Temple, a National Historic Landmark, is reason enough for a visit, but for this special Tun tour on Fri., Nov. 7, guests will get a behind-the-scenes experience – the opportunity to view artifacts from the archives that are significant to the Pennsylvania Freemasons’ heritage at the Tun.

”The connection between Freemasonry and the Marines is from the very, very start,” said Rob Brink, chairman of The Tun Legacy Foundation and the Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Robert Mullan, proprietor of the Tun, and Samuel Nicholas, who became the first commandant of the Continental Marines, were both Freemasons who met in the Tun. The 45-minute Masonic Temple Library & Museum and Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Tour will be offered four times. The 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. tour times have already sold out, but spots remain in the 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. groups.

Historic Tun artifacts at the Masonic Temple Library & Museum

The Tun Lunch and Learn (11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Sat., Nov. 8, Masonic Temple Library & Museum, One North Broad St., $35)

Artist Jim West’s 17-foot towering bronze sculpture of Benjamin Franklin (IN THE EAST, BROTHER BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 2016) in the Grand Ballroom of the Masonic Temple Library & Museum is not just a stunning setting for a talk on the history of the historic Tun, it’s part of the story. Benjamin Franklin became a Mason in 1731 at The Tun.

“Consider this your Tun history class,” said Pat Dailey, president and founder of The Tun Legacy Foundation, said of The Tun Lunch and Learn, which begins at 11:30 a.m. on Sat., Nov. 8. Dailey has been studying the history of The Tun for more than a decade, and is the organizer of the panel discussion with representatives of each of the six organizations with a heritage at The Tun. As a Marine, a member of both the Society of St. George and The Friendly Sons & Daughters of St. Patrick, and the father of a Pennsylvania Freemason, he has personal ties to four of the six organizations,  making him a very good authority. (The other two heritage organizations with ties to The Tun are the United States Navy and the St. Andrew’s Society.)

Rob Brink, The Tun Legacy Foundation’s chairman and the Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, will join Dailey and representatives from the other heritage organizations to share lots of little-known facts about the 100-year-old tavern that played a significant role in their organization’s story.

“In two hours, you’ll have a great lunch and learn a ton about The Tun,” Dailey said. “There won’t be a quiz at the end, but we will wrap up with some fun team trivia.”

To date, 70 people have signed up for the luncheon.

The Tun Legacy Tour: Secrets of The Tun (11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Sat., Nov. 8. Departs from the future site of The Tun®, Second St. between Market St. and Chestnut St., and the Masonic Temple Library & Museum, One North Broad Street. $50, RSVP required.)

On Sat., Nov. 8, as part of the United States Marine Corps 250^th birthday celebration in Philadelphia, you will have the opportunity to be part of the premiere of The Tun Legacy Tour. A project created by The Tun Legacy Foundation in partnership with WeVenture Philadelphia, and supported with a grant from America250PA, The Tun Legacy Tour will visit a dozen sites with ties to the Tun and the establishment of the Continental Marines.

The Tun Legacy Tour was developed with a grant from America250PA, and in partnership with WeVenture Philadelphia.

The fully accessible two-hour bus and walking/rolling tour, which will start from the future site of the rebuilt Tun and the Mason Temple Library & Museum, will take you to locations including Independence Hall; both the original site of the historic Tun and the future site of the rebuilt Tun; the Wood Street steps; the Tun historical marker; the Library Company of Philadelphia: and the resting places of three people significant to the Tun story – Samuel Nicholas, first commandant of the Marine Corps; Joshua Carpenter, the Tun builder; and Robert Mullan, proprietor of the Tun. In addition to locations significant to the Tun’s Marine Corps history, the tour will also include destinations and stories connected to the other organizations with a heritage at the Tun, including the Irish Memorial and the Monument to Scottish Immigrants.

Sign up soon to be the first to experience this tour on its premiere date. More than 180 people have already registered. That’s six buses. A waiting list has been launched for the possibility of adding a seventh bus. The tour will also repeat as part of Philadelphia’s Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026 and become a regular offering once The Tun® is built.

Read more about what The Tun Legacy Foundation is offering at https://thetun.org/250th-usmc-birthday/ and sign up for your tour spot.